The Honey Pot

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The Honey Pot

by Dan Kurani


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Copyright 2009 by Dan Kurani. All rights reserved.

Published by Kurani Multimedia, Inc., Red Bank, New Jersey

Visit Dan online at http://www.kurani.com

No part of this book may be reproduced, transmitted, or

disseminated, in whole or in part, in any form or by any means,

electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or any

information storage and retrieval system now known or hereafter

invented, without written permission from the author or publisher.Requests for permission to excerpt or quote this work should be

made to the author directly via email ([email protected]).

This work is based wholly upon the opinions of its author. Neither

the publisher nor the author make any representations or

warranties with respect to the accuracy or completeness of this

book and specifically disclaim any implied warranties. The

viewpoints expressed in this book may not be suitable for yourbusiness and no part of this book should be viewed as specific

business advice or strategy recommendations. Neither the publisher

nor the author shall be liable for any loss of profit or other types of

damages. Readers must use their own judgment when evaluating or

executing any business or marketing strategy.

Although software, technology vendors and websites may

occasionally be mentioned, this book offers no explicit or exclusive

endorsements. Names and dates have been altered in some of the

anecdotal accounts contained within this work to protect the

privacy of those involved.

ISBN 978-0-9800051-1-0


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Contents

Acknowledgements ....................................................... 6Dedication ..................................................................... 8Introduction .................................................................. 9Like Bees to Honey.............................................................................9Building Buzz ....................................................................................11The Sweet Spot ................................................................................. 12

About This Book............................................................................... 14Chapter 1 The Honey Pot Strategy............................... 17

Whats in Your Ecosystem?.............................................................. 18Chapter 2 The Media Landscape ................................ 20Ubiquitous Infrastructure................................................................ 21Connected Fragmentation ...............................................................23Online Experience for Offline Media...............................................32Disintermediation and Democratization.........................................33Semantic Tools .................................................................................35

A Shift Towards Creating Value.......................................................40Accountable Relationships...............................................................42 Chapter 3 How a Honey Pot Works .............................47First Things First..............................................................................47Distilling the Value...........................................................................50Living It ............................................................................................53The Power of Core Value..................................................................54Chapter 4 How to Sweeten the Pot ..............................56Cultivating a Honey Pot ...................................................................58Brand Promise and User Experience...............................................59How to Grow an Ecosystem.............................................................64Ecosystem Tactics and Synapses .....................................................64


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Communication Strategies...............................................................87Content and Contact Strategies .......................................................92Conversion Strategies ......................................................................96Performance Tracking and Metrics .................................................97Balancing the Budget .....................................................................100Chapter 5 Where This May Lead................................102Integrated Consumption................................................................103Shifting Logistics............................................................................ 105Renewed Focus on Intellectual Property.......................................109Glossary ...................................................................... 112Index........................................................................... 116


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Acknowledgements

Colleagues and confidants: Hillary Bressler of .Com Marketing a

great friend and web original, Tom Sullivan of Princeton Partners,Michael Parker of Gravitate Design, Stephanie Agresta, a social

guru, Walter Chip Craig, Josh Goldman, Sal Magnone, a truefuturist, the St. Jacques crew, Dave Einzig of Industry Connect, and

Valon Sopi of BoldUnderline.

People and firms bringing talent and a solid reputation to the Red

Bank, NJ area: Thomas McGee and Gregg OKeefe strong UX

design from MediaHive, Bill Meyers and Alex Shanley ofDefinedLogic, an enterprise-level web development shop, andDomenick Cilea of Springboard, a PR agency that gets the web.

Help with the book: Jeffrey Ginsberg for editing, Barbara Clement

for the Organization, Greg Marta for the sanity check.

Team members Id like to thank: Matt Holloway for always hitting a

visual on the head, Joe Falcone for his unrelenting effort, MikeMelli for smart solutions, and Alan Mazzan for his commitment toexcellence.

Out of a few hundred clients and over a thousand consulting

engagements a few standout as particularly influential: Ed

Grzeszczak of foryourgarage, David Edell of CCA, Amram Shapiro

and Louise Firth Campbell of Book of Odds, Patrick Seehafer of

Nike, Karen Verelley of DFA, Mike Boneillo and Scott Rasmussen of


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Rasmussen Reports , Cathy Peterson and Doug Weeks of Primus,

John Caplan of Ford Models, Jules Garner of PointRoll, MichaelJager of JDK design, Brian Ribeiro, of mspire group, and Bob

Joudanin at RJ Consulting.

Author Influences: Seth Godin, Chris Anderson, Malcom Gladwell,

Guy Kawasaki, and Jeff Howe.


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Dedication

To my wife, Danielle, and 3 children, Kai, Max, and Tate thankyou in every way conceivable


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Introduction

The Honey Potis about a shift in marketing. Its an approach

based on extending brand value to attract and retain customers

naturally, by giving them something theywantinstead of justbombarding them with advertising.

This approach is rooted in the interactive, but Honey Pot thinking

could very well change the way you approach marketing in

general, because this strategy leverages changes that have been

taking place all across the media landscape.

Your brand lives in that landscape. A world of ubiquitousinfrastructure and multi-channel media convergence, where thedistinction between online and offline have blurred and the old

rules of advertising and marketing have morphed into something

new. The Honey Pot is a way to leverage that connected

landscape.

Like Bees to Honey

Since 2001, the number of wired Americans has risen sharply.Three out of four have easy access to the Internet, two out of three

via high-speed connections. As cheaper smartphones and

netbooks proliferate, the community enjoying constant access

only grows.

Last year, a Harris Interactive poll found that 95% of the

American public characterized access to the web as very


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important or important. A number of those polled even said

theyd rather give up sex than lose their Internet access!

Whether the Internet is truly an acceptable substitute for sex isquestionable. But theres no question the webs a sociable place.

The number of Americans who maintain a profile on a social

networking sitemore than quadrupled in the past three years

according toInternet Retailer. Nielsen Online estimates the

amount of time users spend updating their status on socialnetworks nearly doubled in the past year.

Theres been even more velocity in the growth of blogs,

tumbleblogs and microblogging. Thanks to camera phones and

mobile apps allowing bloggers to post from pretty much

anywhere, citizen journalists are everywhere. News of a major

world event, celebrity misfortune or political scandal may reachyou by tweet before it hits the wire services.

You may be more likely to see television commercials whentheyre shown on sites like Hulu than when they were first

broadcast on network television and you Tivod past them.

The digerati can speculate on the resale value of MySpace and

debate whether Twitter has indeed led us to Web 3.0 withsemantic predictive filtering, but whats undeniable is that tools

like these have permeated our lives.

The fact that Rupert Murdochs plans for MySpace or Biz Stones

pronouncements about Twitter are breathlessly reported, not only

in industry blogs, but also in traditional media outlets like The

Wall Street Journaland TheNew York Times tells yousomethingthat social networks, blogging and microblogging are

all squarely in the mainstream. Of course, we knew that the first

time someone re-tweeted Oprah. But if you need more proof, just

look at how many column-inches of print media are now devoted

to promoting their own blogs, websites and social media profiles.


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Traditional media isnt trying to compete with new media; its

trying to incorporate it in an attempt to stay relevant. Clearlysome major cultural shifts are under way.

Businesses that want to stay competitive know they have to dive

into this roiling stew of new media, old media, social media and

social messaging because their customers are always on and more

connected than ever.

Building Buzz

Bottom line, marketers now face more challenges than ever. How

you advertise your products and services, how you get media

coverage, how you create brand awareness have all changed

radically in recent years.

Lots of new technologies have come into play, of course, but thats

only half the story. The other half is that a new kind of consumer

has evolved one with high expectations shaped by their always

on lives, their exposure to new media tactics and their own

embrace of social media. One study points out that youngerconsumers are more heavily influenced by recommendations fromfriends and trusted sources than brand strength compared to

other age groups.

They may be influenced by all kinds of digital/print/broadcast

media, including your carefully planned media buys, but these are

not passive consumers. Theyre participants. Theyll give brand

loyalty when its deserved, but they demand a two-wayconversation in order to build a relationship with the brands that

are important to them.

A new kind of marketer has emerged as well. Ten or fifteen years

ago, a marketing officer might have spoken vaguely about wanting

to add an online component as an adjunct channel. Acommittee would hire a consultant. Theyd produce a nice static,

text-heavy, brochureware website and the web address would


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get added to everyones business cards. End of story. Even worse,

the marketing director would take a stack of brochures and handthem to the webmaster and walk out.

Now, the internet has become a companys primary mechanism

for two-way communication a real conversation with

consumers. Now, its the first place marketers commit budget

because its the first place consumers look for information. Even

as fewer people read print ads or watch commercials on networktelevision, more people are searching for products and services

online. Theyre reading crowd-sourced reviews, and theyre

paying attention to the recommendations of powerful onlineinfluencers.

So the average marketing officer today is not only working

feverishly to make that old brochureware site more engaging andmore interactive, but also trying to juggle a dozen other very

different kinds of online channels, all hooked into an increasingly

complex online ecosystem where marketing and media overlap

and most of the old rules have been thrown out window.

The industry has gone through profound changes, and, as thefounding partner of an interactive agency, Ive had a ringside seat

for most of the fun.

The game really began to change at the turn of the millennium,

with the rise of search marketing. Then the pace of change

accelerated once again as social media moved into themainstream. Now we are in the midst of another surge, as

semantic technologies spread.

The Sweet Spot

In the past few years weve grown used to hearing one respected

consumer brand, after another, announce decisions to focusalmost exclusively on digital. Advertising spending, or adspend,

on print collateral had already been declining. Adspend in both


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print and broadcast media followed suit, as tightened budgets

were reallocated to digital.

Why? Search marketing, social media, semantic technology allof these promise to help a brand achieve greater impact with less

investment. Brands making the switch expect to realize significant

cost savings and achieve greater reach, too.

The big question is, can the social-semantic web deliver on that

promise? I believe the answer is yes. There is potential for morebrand loyalty and much greater return on investment (ROI) in the

long run, but only if the brands making this change also embracecertain core principles that are critical to success in the current

media landscape.

The Honey Potis really about embracing those principles things

like alignment, authenticity and value and using them to build arich online ecosystem that can attract customers the way a pot of

honey attracts bees. If done properly, the honey pot may even

start to feed its own growth.

The reason why a Honey Pot strategy can work so well right now

is that value matters more than ever. Were in a long-tail world,

where niche products and services proliferate, the voices ofindividual consumers are louder, and the impact of those voices

more wide-reaching than you can imagine. But if you can win over

your core constituency by providing real value the sweetest

honey the customers will find their way to you.

Take a look around at whats happening in the advertising andmedia landscape and youll see why it may be time to change the

way you think about marketing. Its no longer about mass

marketing, and may not even be about one to one marketing.

Today think one to niche marketing as a way to reach your core.

Id be the first to admit that a Honey Pot strategy wont work for

every business. For those companies that have a compelling core,


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however, this kind of approach can provide better ROI over time.

The principles behind the Honey Pot can help you build strongbrand identity, attract new prospects and forge lasting

relationships with customers.

About This Book

What I hope you find here is encouragement to adopt a morevalue-driven approach to marketing. In more practical terms,

what youll discover as you thumb through this book are musings

about achieving brand alignment, communicating authenticity,

starting a conversation with your customers and offering them

real value all the essentials of a Honey Pot strategy.

These musings are organized in five sections:

Chapter 1 explains what a Honey Pot is and why value-based, pull strategies are so attractive.

Chapter 2 surveys the media context, highlighting keytrends that call for a value-based response.

Chapter 3 examines the principles that make a Honey Potstrategy succeed.

Chapter 4 describes tactics that can sweeten your HoneyPot and add more brand value.

Chapter 5 looks at the big picture and speculates aboutwhere Honey Pot thinking may take you.

Special Terminology

As you read, you may encounter a few unfamiliar phrases. Online

ecosystem and user experience are the most important of these.

An online ecosystem is somewhat analogous to a carbon footprintin the sense that it can serve as a measure of accumulated impact.

But its digital impact were talking about. Your own personal

online ecosystem, for example, comprises all the evidence of your


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online life, including your public profiles as well as your

connections and activities. The more active and connected youare, the larger your digital footprint.

Companies and specific brands have online ecosystems, too. The

larger the ecosystem, the higher the visibility and the more likely

they are to be found by customers. Thats why so much of the

advice in this book is about ways to enrich and expand your

online ecosystem.

Whatever it is youre marketing, its more important than ever to

recognize that an online ecosystem forms naturally around yourbrand and its audience. Thats true whether youre paying

attention to it or not. Implementing a Honey Pot strategy can help

really leverage that online ecosystem.

User experience sometimes refers to experiencing a specificdigital environment (such as navigating a website or reading an

email.) It also refers to the entire brand experience. How your

target audience experiences your brand is the end result of all thetouch points, both online and offline.

One fundamental assumption I make is that user experience must

reinforce brand identity. Another is that its important to deliveran engaging user experience throughout the different components

of your online ecosystem (at least, those that are under your

control).

You may notice that I use the terms digital, interactive, online,

and web almost interchangeably. This is because the originaldistinctions are no longer meaningful.

I also refer to members of the public as users whether they are

website visitors, consumers, target audiences, customers or

prospects. This is due in part to my having a digital orientation,

but it also underscores my belief that you must offer your public

something useful and valuable.


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Other special terminology you may encounter here is explained in

the glossary at the end of this book.

What You Wont Find in This Book

You wont find any checklists or simple rules here. There is no

standard formula for building a Honey Pot of your own because,

by definition, its something that needs to grow out of an

understanding of your brand and the culture it serves.

How to Use This BookYou can use this book however you like, of course. Feel free to

read the chapters in sequence, from beginning to end. Or act like

a honeybee. Flit around and dip into anything that looks

interesting.


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Chapter 1

The Honey Pot Strategy

A Honey Pot strategy can pretty much be summed up in two

words: create value. Strip away the advertising gimmicks and

old-fashioned marketing ploys. Instead of trying to message more,more loudly or more insistently, just focus on creating value. If

your product is sound and you communicate honestly, you will

naturally develop a deep connection with your audience.

Consider this: what if you had something so rich and sweet andirresistible that it would simply pull people in? What if it would

not just attract new prospects, but also entice them to come backagain and again and tell all their friends? Your online ecosystem

can be an irresistible Honey Pot that pulls people in. All you need

to do is start building brand value and communicating honestly.

First, shift your attention away from advertising. Stop

bombarding people indiscriminately with unwanted, disruptive

and frequently irrelevant messaging. Instead, invest in buildingvalue: create something that is so useful, informative and maybe

even entertaining, that your customers and new prospects

naturally gravitate toward you.

Offer a unique solution to a particularly difficult problem while

remaining closely aligned to your brand message. Its best to stay

focused on a very specific need or sensibility your target market

has. In other words, offer something your audience will want,


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need or enjoy. Thats Honey Pot value. It will attract exactly the

kind of qualified traffic you want the kind that comes to youalready interested, engaged and ready to act.

The real beauty of this is that you can feel good about what it is

youre doing. Every day youre creating more value for your

customers and prospects, not just stealing their time or alienating

them with unwanted ads. Instead, youre always seeking to be

more relevant to their specific needs. Youre asking, What can Ido to make your life easier? What can I do to make your life more

fun? What can I do to solve the most annoying problem you

have?

When marketers shift from thinking about how to steal your time

to thinking about how to improve your life well, that changes

everything. And thats what the Honey Pot strategy is all about.Its a fundamental shift in the way we approach marketing

through attraction.

Many businesses see the value in this new strategy, but dont fullygrasp that they can implement it to make this new form of

relationship marketing work for them. They need to define exactlywhat their Honey Pot can be.

Whats in Your Ecosystem?

You probably already have an online ecosystem of sorts. What

does it say about the health of your brand? And whats there to

attract and engage your market?

Unless youve intentionally tried to remain under the radar and

even startups trying to keep the lid on things have a hard time

doing that these days the fact is you probably already have an

online ecosystem.

The centerpiece of your ecosystem is likely to be your website. But

your digital trail shouldnt begin and end there. Youve also got


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press releases and various newsletters youve created. Perhaps

you and your colleagues have made the news on occasion. Youreprobably in a variety of online directory listings. Your products

may appear on review sites. Members of your staff may be activein social and professional networking communities, leaving tracks

back to you. They may be blogging or commenting on other

peoples blogs. They may be microblogging. Or maybe youve got

some banner campaigns running somewhere. There are backissues of your trade publications where youve been featured. Your

suppliers and distributors may have sites that link back to you.

Get the picture? Theres a whole network out there thats formedaround you. Whether intentionally or not, youve been building a

platform for value creation.

If youre like most companies, you havent used that platform tobuild real value in your brand or even seen it for the resource it

could be. Its potential remains untapped. However, if you really

invested in building value in selected areas of your ecosystem, it

could become your Honey Pot.


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Chapter 2

The Media Landscape

The subject of this book is not media or market trends, but rather

the idea that the best way to grow your brands online ecosystem

and enhance your marketing efforts is by creating value. However, its helpful to begin by surveying major trends.

Advertising, media and consumer markets have gone through

profound changes in recent years, and those changes are some of

the most compelling reasons to consider a value-based Honey Pot

strategy.

Marketers need to stay nimble and on top of the trends becausethe media landscape is always evolving. Some of the trends that

have emerged in the past decade are real game-changers.

Ubiquitous infrastructure, continuous information flow, the

fragmentation of media and markets; the emerging influence of

the individual, even in the midst of increasing collaboration and

connection; patterns of integrated consumption and mediaconvergence; and a new generation of semantic tools. These are

just a few of the trends that are changing the media landscape.

The players best positioned for success in this changing media

landscape include:

Owners of original ideas and unique intellectual property


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Businesses that know their core, listen to their niche,remain agile, and invest in areas that improve value

Niche communities with critical mass

Neutral parties that facilitate collaboration and interaction Tribal leaders or influencers Individuals with targeted ideas and the discipline to

execute

Those who may face challenges in this new environment include

marketers of homogenized, one-size-fits-all, mass-market

products and middle market players, such as retailers and

distributors.

Ubiquitous Infrastructure

The reality of life today is that we are always on, always

connected. The technology infrastructure that unites us allows for

a continuous flow of information that we, both, consume and

feed. This information flow gets deeper and faster all the time.

This is the result of many factors:

The digital medium itself Improved publishing tools Hunger for information Search technology Accurate measurement and anlytics Easy tools to slice and dice information Mobile access Social connections Citizen journalists pushing information in blogs,

tumblelogs and microblogs


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Microapplications, such as iPhone apps Infotainment vehicles like Yahoo Buzz, Daily Motion and

others Integrated consumption and media convergence

Interesting stories and news of product launches are allcommunicated almost instantaneously. This means that if you

have something of great value, it can catch on quickly. Conversely,

bad products will fail just as quickly. Word gets around faster

than ever, and the value you offer matters more than ever. Not

just because were always on.

The jury is still out on how being always on will affecthumankind in the long run, but the speed of information flow

certainly isnt slowing down.

At 6pm, I bought tickets from Fandango on my iPhone

immediately upon seeing a billboard ad for a new movie. I was

hungry and my phone told me I was within minutes of eight

different restaurants, three of them chain eateries Id liked before.If my iPhone had triangulated my position just an hour earlier,

while we were still driving west, it could have offered me a coupon

for Jersey Mikes subs and then we would have been able to

bypass the whole family discussion about where to eat.

Within hours of Oprah introducing a new book club selection, it

can be number 1 on Amazon and hit 5 million books in print. But

before she is even done with the 5-minute segment, I can havealready downloaded the audio book on iTunes and be listening to

it. I may have even already tweeted it. And during the couplemoments I spent waiting for the book to transfer to my iPod, I

realized the release date of this book was just two weeks ago. How

long would market penetration have taken in the past?

Are you keeping up?


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Connected Fragmentation

The intense connection made possible by the Internet is precisely

what has led to such extreme fragmentation of mass markets andmass media. Were now in the age of the niche.

The central paradox of all this connectedness is that it has

resulted in a kind of connected fragmentation. While the Internetcan bring everybody together, it also allows us to break apart into

smaller and smaller tribes. And even fragmentation of individual

identity, allowing us to belong to several different tribes at once.

Some of the most profound changes impacting media and

markets relate to this connected fragmentation. Because of our

ability to connect with obscure niche groups, to purchase highlyunique product from anyone, anywhere in the world, people are

gravitating toward the fringes.

Brand dilution combined with access to on-demand

manufacturing has sped the process. In the past, there was a

discernable cycle: a fringe product, once it proved it wasnt just ashort-lived fad, would gain enough traction to move into themainstream and become part of the mass market. Now, however,

the fringes wont be the new mass because volume wont exist to

create that mass market; demand will be spread out over a larger

and larger number of unique niche products. In theory, the

market will continue to divide itself into smaller and smaller

slices, in an attempt to increase relevancy, until it becomes

unsustainable (i.e., unprofitable). The increased ability of nimblemanufacturers to produce on demand may, in fact, be double-

edged. Mass marketed products may only be viable if they haveuniquely differentiating customizable options.

Niche Markets, Niche Media, Nimble Manufacturing

Not only does the web allow individuals to connect with other

individuals who share similar even impossibly unusual


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interests, but it also allows marketers to identify those individuals

as members of a specific niche market and, more importantly,connect with them.

This is not just because marketers have more data than ever and

thus can find those niche markets, but its also that marketers can

now offer niche markets a product that suits them thanks to more

and more nimble manufacturing practices. Were not just seeing

more fragmented niche markets, but more fragmented SKUs aswell.

As a result of media fragmentation, its taking businesses longerto find places to spend their advertising budget. Despite the

continued reduction in share many traditional channels like

network television continue to charge more and get away with it.

The death of mass advertising might be near, if not for the sheeramount of capital that has no other place to go yet.

Once a clear path to fragmented communities is laid, advertisers

will realize the unbelievable conversion rates that can be had bytargeting so precisely. (This is not about vertical ad networks, for

they are still sliced too thick.) The cost will rise for onlineadvertising based on the volume of viewers in precisely targeted

niche communities. This will suck capital out of less effective

scattershot mass advertising. That means the most rewarding

time to play is now. At least until publishers figure out how to drilldown to the levels possible. The moment that happens the upside

will vanish.

For now, you need to work site by site and section by section on

push advertising efforts in the interactive space. But prior to

undertaking those types of light seeding efforts, you should first

invest in building up your online ecosystem so that youll get themost value possible from the capital you deploy. Thats the

underlying message of the Honey Pot, really: the best way to deal

with the diminishing returns of push advertising is to enhance

your online ecosystem so that it supports a pull strategy.


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Just think what you can do to actually improve your product with

that leftover capital you no longer waste on mass advertising.

Collective Conversation, Individual Voices

The internet has given us new ways to connect with others and to

have collective conversations. But heres another paradox: its also

truly empowered the individual voices and producers. The

individuals perspective can be delivered quickly, cheaply andeffectively thanks to an infrastructure thats leveled the playing

field so much even the smallest players can compete.

Even people with limited technical knowledge are able to express

themselves and increase their visibility online using tools like:

Blogs Tumble logs Microblogs Personal websites Podcasting/Vodcasting Commenting, rating and ranking Social news sites Social networking sites Social bookmarking Review and opinion sites Wish list and intention sites Collectives Video sites

Every one of us can have a voice online. Individuals can set up amedia outlet all by themselves, if they want. And sometimes a


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lone voice can be louder than the biggest advertising budget.

Think about what happens when a top 100 reviewer on Amazonshares a particularly disappointing experience with a product.

Individual opinion whether delivered in comments, ratings,

blogposts, or tweets can have real potency, but theres also a

weight to the aggregate of individual voices. Note the impact of

the accumulated opinions voiced on forums like Yelp, Epinions

and The Consumerist. This collective voice is different from massmedia. Think about the effect of reading a succession of blow-by-

blow accounts of an event from multiple citizen journalists. Each

individual account takes on more importance when it correlateswith other accounts. The power is in the hands of the crowd, and

every member of the crowd has a digital megaphone.

The Internet provides any individual with a worldwide podium ora soapbox for expression and exposure. This makes it a great time

for start-ups, creativity and new connections, but a perilous time

for the mass media behemoths that can no longer force-feed

homogenized products and messages to the masses.

Individual Fingerprints

The new demographics are simple: everyone is as unique as a

snowflake or a fingerprint. Were seeing the end of broad-brush

demographic profiling. Forget simply advertising cereal to anyfemale-head-of-household-middle-income-25-to-45. Most of

your adspend will be wasted on people who never eat breakfast or

who ignore your billboards entirely.

But suppose you are a small specialty foods manufacturer trying

to market a new cereal. It may be true theres not enough value in

that untargeted mass advertising. However, it may be worth yourwhile to join the community at the PostPunkKitchen or run a

promotion on the MrBreakfast site. And if youre thoughtful about

the information you provide on your site, you can easily connect

with the customer or social influencer whos searching for


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breakfast cereal ingredient labels online. Offer that searcher your

clean-label information, information about childrens nutrition,and maybe some coupons and recipes. Sign her up to be part of

your online rewards program. Soon shell be happy to tell youwhat she buys, how often, when, where, and why. Oh yeah, and

youll also discover shes a vegetarian with two preteen

stepchildren who really want you to use more eco-friendly

packaging.

Consumers are able to communicate their own individual

identities today, while revealing their interests and behaviors

making it easier to identify and connect with those whose valuesalign with yours. And markets can actually identify and connect

with you when your values align with their interests. So there isan opportunity now to focus on solving problems on almost a

unique personal fingerprint level. Thats why the hot new

demographic is not an age group, an income level or a zip code.

Its hardly a group at all.

Say you live in the Pacific Northwest and you like to run in flip-flops when its raining and the temperatures just below 65

degrees, but still above 38 degrees. I have no doubt that with just

a little Digging, you could find other people who also like to run in

the rain in flip-flops when its cool, but not too cold. You can find

each other online and create your own little community. Soon,you may create a running sandal company of your own or an

existing running sandal company will find you, by matching

certain points of your online fingerprints.

Marketers can find niche markets for their products and they can

make niche products to suit these markets. Even if you arent

going to sell five million units of running sandals, isnt there a wayto sell a half million or even a quarter million units and have a

good, profitable niche? You might even be able to develop a

similar product thats just right for groups of golf sandal lovers

and fishing sandal lovers and any number of other niche markets

who will be incredibly loyal to your specialized products. More


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and more companies are going to be asking themselves how they

can take advantage of niche markets and incorporate real timefeedback into their product lifecycle development

So these personal fingerprints have a lot to do with how marketers

can connect products directly to smaller and smaller subcultures.

Theres also an interesting corollary to the uniquely personal ID:

the personal profile.

Centralization of Identity

First, mass markets fragmented into many, smaller nichemarkets. Then, those niche markets fragmented into individual

fingerprints. Now each social influencer has their own identity

and their own personal fingerprint online reflecting their personal

interests and behaviors. And we have the tracking mechanismsand behavioral analysis techniques to use that unique fingerprint.

Another phenomenon thats closely related to the new

demographics of individual identity: the centralization of identityin personal profiles. Although theres a lot of loud pushback from

privacy advocates on this, your personal profile is becoming moreand more like an online ID.

Its not quite centralized yet. Your medical profiles are over here

and your social profile is over there, while your friend profiles,

work status and personal status are somewhere else entirely. But,

while this data might exist in separate places for a while, it seemsinevitable that your disparate profile information will start to

coalesce at some point soon. Were already seeing some of that

with Facebook Connect.

Should we be afraid of our online identities destroying our offline

privacy? In the short term, we should continue to be vigilant, butbe open to selective changes. Whatever happens, fears about

privacy issues will eventually be more than outweighed by the

benefit because theres a better understanding of the user. As


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marketers we dont really want to reach somebody whos not

going to be interested in our product. Understanding theconsumer better means we wont end up serving them messages

they dont want or need. What an improvement!

This could still be many years away, but when it happens its

going to change the environment. We arent going to need to see a

lot of messages that we dont care about because its a waste of

money for the marketer, the advertiser and the company. Plus, itcreates a negative impression for the consumer.

On the flipside, when centralized profiles are available, well beable to get things that are much more relevant to us. This can be

based not only on interest, but also on timing. Say its dinnertime

and youre driving by a Quiznos. An advertiser knows which chain

you like and also knows youre likely to have three kids in the car.Voila! you get an electronic coupon for buy three subs, get one

free sent to you in real time. Of course there would likely be an

incentive for you to forward to your friends or neighbors.

Tie together the interest level and the timing, and you actually

have a stronger messaging system because more relevantmessaging means fewer irrelevant interruptions.

People talk about how invasive that might be. But, at this point, I

feel pretty invaded by the billboards that are all along the

highway, too. Id rather see that billboard come down and have a

much more relevant message come to me personally via text.

Individual Influencers and Individual Producers

One more interesting development not only do the phenomena

of fragmentation and the trend towards customization together

lead to almost individualized markets, but this new reality alsoinvites other kinds of individualization. Namely, the emergence of

highly effective social influencers given voice by new media and


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the resurgence of individual producers making highly unique

items in a modern-day twist on artisanship.

Individual consumers can sometimes have impact on a brandsimply by posting a scathing review in the right place at the right

time, but singular reviews or rants tend to be ignored or

discounted unless the writer has established credibility in their

online life.

Some pundits who noted the increasing importance of individualinfluencers over the past few years have dubbed it

micropersuasion. Media consumers adopted a steady diet ofblogs, social networks and discussion boards leaving a lovely

digital trail detailing likes/dislikes and interests in their wake.

They also came to be influenced by the guides in these new media

venues: moderators and administrators who acted as theguardians of groups, forums and message boards; bloggers

elevated to demigod status within their own little tribes thanks to

highly specialized search engines (think Technorati, for example);

and the stars of social networks who garner more friends orfollowers than the rest of the crowd, who get more feed

subscribers, or who exert more authority through more (or more

powerful) interactions with the community.

In the new/social media world, its clear that individuals can

become hugely influential, taking center stage either by the sheervolume of their actions or by building trust when they

demonstrate their knowledge and expertise.

There are even specialized services to help you identify the

individual influencers in specific niche communities so you can

start the delicate dance of engaging with them. These individuals

have, in effect, created personal brands of such power thatmarketers feel the need to court them or at least, wish they could.

In some tribes, the strongest influencers are notoriously

independent. Those with an analytics orientation may even look


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for key metrics, such as who has the most incoming links or

incoming traffic thanks to their feed subscribers.

Individual producers exert a special kind of influence. As mass-market goods become less attractive, niche products take on more

cachet. The individuals who create those products become stars of

a sort. Theyre no longer anonymous designers or crafters because

online audiences can connect with them directly.

Consumer Vigilantes and Revolt

Advertising agencies used to think they could shape brandidentity, but one of the truly democratizing effects of new/social

media is that advertisers no longer control the playing field and

the truth will come out. A brand will be seen for what it is,

eventually. (Of course this is only good news for some of us.)

When consumers in the online space question the truth of a

brand, it can quickly become a revolt. This often happens in

response to a change maybe a change in the privacy policy or achange in the business model that could threaten the neutrality

of the community. Within moments masses of users bandtogether gathering steam and fury. They threaten to jump ship or

manipulate results until the culprit relents.

In two high-profile examples, when Facebook and Digg made

moves that affected the crowd, they were swamped with user

discontent and organized attempts to make the companiesacquiesce.

To Facebooks chagrin, more than a quarter of a million users

revolted when they made announced their intention to

automatically post user activity with Beacon. In an attempt to

build monetization into their model, Facebook merged useractivity, like adding a friend, with purchases on external sites and

showed them in a consolidated list. Further, they allowed


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advertisers to target specific user behavior and market directly to

it.

With publicly announced calls for patience by the CEO and someadjustments that gave users more control, the backlash relented,

but not before some damage was done to the Facebook is like us

image. And, in the end, even though it did spark some privacy

concerns, users eventually found that the connection of activity,

likes and wants through a list of behavior actually helped themfind the things they needed and make new and deeper

connections.

Digg got a taste of crowd revolt when word buzzed around that

the there was editorial weighting going on in what many

perceived to be the worlds most democratic news aggregator.

Most of the community associated with Digg, as well as industrymedia outlets like Wired, voiced their disapproval.

Whether there was actual editorial weighting or not, the fact that

the founders Diggs and a steady group of Diggers always seemedto be associated with the stories bubbling to the top gave the

community at large enough ammunition to cry foul. The storyeventually faded and most observers later speculated that the

algorithm was tweaked to find middle ground for all sides.

Online Experience for Offline Media

One of the most striking characteristics of the media landscape

today is its connectedness. Newspapers, magazines, radio,broadcast and cable television even movie studios and record

labels all use interactive channels to stay connected with their

audiences.

Every major broadcast player now has an online presence and

every one of them tries to drive their offline audiences to it. Itsnot just about traffic. Although theres often a cost per thousand,

or CPM, component that still represents a fairly minor return


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when compared to airtime. Its really about relationship

marketing continuing the conversation with the audience andstrengthening the connection. These media outlets have

essentially become brands that use multiple online and offlinechannels to reach their markets. Effectively, theyve moved

toward a brand model something thats based on customer

solutions rather than specific types of content platforms.

The more that print or broadcast media use both online andoffline channels, the more they elevate their brand over their

native media platform. Courageous media outlets there are

reaching for iPhone apps and mobile video. The best adapters areproviding an interactive online user experience that connects with

the offline customer experience and enriching the overallexperience of the brand. For their sake, we can only hope they

havent waited too long.

Disintermediation and Democratization

New media encourage direct engagement and provide few

barriers to entry. The combination has been somewhat explosive.

Because they can make direct contact with the source, users now

feel encouraged to so, bypassing middlemen and distributors

whenever possible. This disintermediation puts more of the

burden on companies in many respects, because consumers not

only expect to get valuable information from manufacturer

websites, but they also expect to have conversations directly with

manufacturers.

Honoring expectations and engaging in conversation can

strengthen your relationships with customers. Moreover, this

connection with users can enhance your product development.When you encourage that kind of interaction, youre hearing the

voice of the customer loud and clear. Theyre not just telling you

what they want, theyre often telling you exactly what you need to

do to improve your product offerings.


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The fact that ubiquitous infrastructure is equally available to all

without major capital investment is also leading to greaterdemocratization. Individual producers running sole

proprietorships can compete with large companies to servicesmall, niche markets in search of unique products. Citizen

journalists with smartphones or netbooks can scoop professional

journalists backed by major publications and service bureaus. In

fact, media professionals are increasingly cast as middlemen, andbypassed.

There is also something inherently democratic about phenomena

like peer production and crowd-sourcing. That leveling effect isparticularly evident now that weve seen sites replete with user-

generated content usurping the place of traditional media.

In this new age of the individual, the playing field is level. Anyperson or entity can produce an amazing product, service or piece

of unique content. If it fills a real need, it can spread like wildfire

overnight. In some cases, without spending even a penny of

marketing budget.

Democracy equals opportunity because everyone has a completelyindependent vote. Anyone or anything that is viable in the eyes of

enough people becomes viable. In a true democracy, no one can

cry about foul play or barriers to entry since everyone has a

chance. Certainly there are factors that play into the likelihood ofsuccess, such as intelligence, talent, skills and relevance.

However, this is about as level as the playing field can get.

Democratization of content also reflects those independent votes.

The content that is the most preferred gets the most exposure.

The method of determining what is viewed varies, but its usually

based on user rankings, number of views and links to the content.

What makes this even more interesting is that content has the

ability to transcend planes. For example, its easy to see that the

most viewed videos on YouTube and especially the ones most


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often identified as favorites (favorited), move to the forefront

and therefore get more exposure. However, those same videos arelikely spreading along through other channels (including email)

that arent as readily tracked. Its also important to note thatalthough there is some advantage to being a first mover, reset

rankings, fair algorithms and user-controlled timeframes allow

for content to enter the marketplace. If users find the content

valuable, whether for entertainment, education, or any reasonwhatsoever, it has the ability to go viral through widespread

exposure.

Today, anyone can become a hit an individual, a small companyor a large company. For those that provide a compelling core

value, the world can open up faster than ever. But for those whohave counted on traditional barriers to entry such as large

capital investments to maintain their monopolistic mojo, a new

game is afoot.

This new, democratic environment has resulted in two striking

developments: Customers have always had more credibility with their

peers than you when talking about your brand, and now

their voices are just as loud as yours.

Customers expect more from your brand now. Forget yourmonologue. They want dialog. They have grown to expectit because they get that level of interaction everywhere

else. They require a relationship with your brand.

Semantic Tools

A new ability to reveal intent promises new opportunities.

There are many definitions of the semantic web. Fundamentally,

it means the ability to take the syntax of conversations and dataand the timing of that data, and draw actionable insight from it.

This insight into intent and relevance can be used to improve


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peoples lives by helping them to collaborate, quickly find

information they really want and receive marketing informationthey may actually find interesting.

Suppose youre in the digital photography business and are

specifically interested in people who only use Leica cameras. If

you drill down further into that demographic, theres bound to be

a certain mindset and personality type that tends to like that

camera. Semantic tools could give this particular niche market theability to make deals in a group fashion. For instance, they might

save money by buying equipment at a quantity discount and

having it all shipped to a location where they agree to meet up say, at an upcoming Leica convention.

Tapping into intent also allows you to message people more

effectively using GPS data on mobile phones to tie their areas ofinterest to their geographic area at any given moment. Semantic

tools let you deduce interests based on the syntax of their

conversations and their online behavior.

This all creates a powerful foundation for giving people what they

want, when they want it.

Revealed Intention

The first intent shown by Internet users came in the form of user

searches. But search data initially had no time frame, level of

desire, or other information associated with it except for thefollowing activity by the user. For instance, if the user made a

purchase after a search, we could deduce their level of desire was

high and their place in the sales cycle was deep. We then looked

back at the information theyd entered in the search box and

cross-referenced it with their subsequent activity. This allowed usto figure out that searching for specific multi-keyword phrases led

to faster and higher conversions, and that singular, generic terms

led to browsing-based activity, and so on.


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But logical assumptions about what we would do, given certain

search terminology, just werent enough to change the market. Ithad a temporary positive impact on marketing ROI. But, as weve

grown able to figure out expected conversions to an even moreprecise degree, the positive spread or differential is

decreasing, and, its pretty likely that as the level of certainty

increases with a particular tactic, the cost will go up.

So how do we move to more explicit exposure of intention? Howdo we move to effective collaboration banding together to

achieve a specific goal, for example, whether its to save money,

create a product, or harness processing power to solve complexcomputational problems? And how far away are we from this

capability?

People made a major step toward collaboration with more explicitexpression of intention as a natural extension of our activity in

online communities. Simply, by telling friends and coworkers in

our own circle our intentions whether it was to buy a home or a

car, go on vacation, or whatever we automatically includedqualifiers that arent needed in search. Maybe Ive revealed that

Ill be renting a bungalow in Tahiti in three weeks and I am

nervous about sun exposure because I burn really easily.

In a normal search scenario I might type in best sun block,

which would trigger vaguely relevant ads to be sent my way. Butby tapping into the semantics of the conversations Im having

with the people in my circle, an advertiser might be able to

introduce something totally new an intelligent suggestion thatactually improves my experience. Maybe its an offer for a long-

brimmed hat or reduced-cost tanning sessions. Maybe its tanning

sessions at a local establishment two weeks from now since theyknow Ill want to be building my base tan right before I go.

With the outcry of privacy invasion at Facebook, it was clear that

users arent yet completely comfortable with the announcement of

their previous activity or future intentions unless theyre given the


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opportunity to confirm them. In the case of Twitter, users detail

practically every move they make, but again, it is pushed by themdirectly as opposed to their cell phone mapping back GPS

coordinates or taking random pictures against their will.

However slowly, users are starting to come around to more

explicit expressed intention and some non-controlled

manipulation of how those intentions are displayed. Even in the

Facebook example, users are actually connecting with morefriends, new causes and useful applications because of the listing

of user actions.

Connection and Collaboration

When we truly become effective at the gathering of intention,

natural collaboration will ensue. Unfortunately, we cant get thereuntil we get past some initial resistance. Once people begin to see

the positive effects of their intentions being exposed, I believe

well see widespread acceptance. At that point, we can deal with

other obstacles and risks, such as people not knowing what theywant or changing their minds.

Once we can develop a unifying force that either consolidates

(simplifies and cross-references) data or creates fixed data points

(such as an interest in product X, at cost Y, within Z weeks) to

express intention, we can then match effectively and aggregateintention among individuals to do things like group buys or

matching people to causes whether its for a charity walk or for

building a company.

In fact, we are already seeing non-profits benefiting from badges

on Facebook and LinkedIn profiles. Given the number of people

within my network who match some aspect of my digitalfingerprint, it isnt surprising that quite a few of them have

charities that are of interest to me.


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I dont mean to make it sound like were on a path to socialism

when it comes to collaboration. Have faith that the motivatedforces of commerce within our networks and communities will

always be looking for ways to profit. Furthermore, increasinglysophisticated algorithms will allow those willing to expend greater

effort to take a bigger share of the pie. This could lead to a more

pure and efficient form of capitalism, essentially shifting the value

of relationships to the value the relationship produces.

I do think that collaboration will be the next great frontier on the

web. The amount of collective power that can be harnessed by

social networks to achieve goals is astonishing. Think aboutsaving money with group buys, cloud computing to solve medical

problems, conducting joint product development or even simplyfinding a way to pass on a lineage of storytelling. Wikis and other

tools have given us the ability to crowd-source all types of

information as well as new opportunities to work together toward

a common good.

At first we saw groups of individuals who were already connectedin the offline world embracing online tools as a way to collaborate

on a business presentation, a school project or community

initiative. But soon it was clear that simply having the means to

collaborate could itself create connection and community.

For years, intent existed in our own minds but generally wentunspoken, except perhaps with close friends and spouses. On the

web we find that by expressing our intent we are fulfilled. Were

able to connect with products or services or communities thatmeet our needs. This gratification probably explains why early

technology investments focused so heavily on search results. But

imagine a world where people express their desires proactivelyprior to making a decision. Although were still in an early stage,

its exciting.


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A Shift Towards Creating Value

Some marketers like to bemoan the decline of brand loyalty. But

how can you expect loyalty unless youre providing real value toyour customers? Especially when the value becomes more and

more transparent with the proliferation of information and

distribution through new communication tools.

Theres no logical reason for somebody to be loyal to a brand. The

brand is there to provide a product or service and get paid

something in exchange. Whether the price is $5, $500 or $5

million, theres a value exchange involved.

If theyre acting logically, customers will be loyal as long as theres

a compelling exchange for the price. The challenge arises whenthe value is no longer compelling enough or there are equal

alternatives. Just because somebody always used Tide detergent

in the past does not necessarily mean they always need to use

Tide. Consumers know that there are alternatives and there will

always be more alternatives.

Niche products have less to fear from alternatives, however, andthis is important. More niche products and more SKUs mean a

longer tail economy one that serves the customer in a different

way. This changes a basic dynamic.

It no longer makes sense to spend so much on brand marketing.

Just raising the recognition of your brand and reinforcing the

perception of your brand wont increase brand loyalty. The way toincrease brand loyalty is to have the best product, solve the

problem in the best possible way and provide the best value

exchange for that user who fits your core value based on their

unique needs.

In the most basic terms, the old way of brand marketing was anexposure model thatpushedmessaging on people. Brand value

and trust used to be proxy for real information. But with the


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Internet, users were suddenly able topullthe world to themselves

on their own terms. This means more than empowerment foraudiences, although thats certainly part of it. It also means that a

good deal of consumer intent that had been hidden is nowexposed. Simply by stating their interests through the

navigation of category selections, through consumption patterns,

and via search consumers revealed a wealth of data to

advertisers. Not just what they were looking for, but also how theylooked for it.

Although search certainly helped accelerate the shift, this change

actually began as soon as consumers were able to express choicein a dense enough market to perpetuate that activity meaning

they got what they were looking for, and not just because they hada tool to do it. Then, with search, consumers were not only able to

find the things they were looking for, but also the things they

didnt know they wanted. Even mistaken searches opened new

horizons.

The world hasnt changed totally; you still must have a compellingproduct that fills a need in order to thrive. But what is

fundamentally different is this: people are now telling you exactly

what they want and need.

Moreover, in the current landscape consumers draw out pertinent

value whether thats a product, content or a connection. Theychoose. Therefore, unique value is paramount.

Consumers now create their own vacation experiences rather than

relying on vacation packages. They research product intensely and

know prices high and low before making an offer. They can

connect with people like themselves immediately whenever they

want to, even if theyve never met anyone like themselves before.And they consume niche lifestyle/mindset-related entertainment

such as heavy.com, vbs.tv, and surfline.com.


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How does a marketer deal with this? By offering something

uniquely compelling that builds upon the core value of the goodsor services offered. Give consumers a reason to engage with your

brand.

Of course, while you want your online presence to be attractive

and pull people in, you should always make sure that the

incentive is related to your companys core value in some way.

You also want to be sure not to get too caught up in technology fortechnologys sake. If it doesnt help a user in the lifestyle where

your brand lives, dont offer it. In todays market, alienating even

one person can throw a monkey wrench into your efforts because its so easy for that one individual voice to make itself

heard.

And one more thing you always want to ask yourself whetheryour product is good enough. Because the best way to achieve

marketing success today is not to trump your competitors ad

strategy its simply to provide a better product. Your customers

will spread the word for you.

Accountable Relationships

One of the most significant changes that the spread of web

culture has imposed on advertising and marketing is greater

accountability. The availability of metrics has had a huge impact

on business relationships, and its also allowed for some direct

partnerships to develop that might not have happened in the past.

In the same way that the web allows consumers to find

manufacturers directly, cutting out the middleman, it also allows

would-be advertisers to bypass media buyers and partner with

publishers directly. So we now see manufacturers connecting withniche publications that directly cater to the audience that would

consume their product. Theyre bypassing the standard

advertising relationship, which is often CPM-driven.


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Online publishers who truly own a niche audience, can track

visitor behavior precisely, providing an asset that can be leveragedwith advertisers. Niche publishers, in fact, have the ability to

prove they can help advertisers get into deeper relationships withaudiences. So instead of spending time simply trying to sell more

advertising on a CPM basis, they can focus instead on creating

opportunities to advertise products or services that are directly

relevant to their readership and thus get a much higher effectiveCPM.

Because its tracked, the risk is driven down to limited tests.

Advertisers can know exactly what worked and even a fair amountabout whom it worked on. Theres more direct and more accurate

feedback than there was from old advertising models, too.

The infamous quote by John Wannamaker, "Half the money Ispend on advertising is wasted; the trouble is I don't know which

half.", may becoming obsolete. But the accountability inherent in

the new, metrics-driven model changes that. It allows advertisers

to shift some risk back to the publishers risk that publishers arewilling to take on when the metrics justify it.

The new dynamic can actually get better product in front of

consumer markets and also level the playing field for companies

with better products. They can now reach markets with much

lower upfront marketing expenditures.

A whole new era of deal-making has begun, primarily because ofthe accountability that metrics bring and because deeper analytics

give the ability to break things down to such a granular level. But

publishers and advertisers will need to align more closely while

walking the tightrope. Collaborative efforts mean that businesses

become more intertwined and depend on each other for success.


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Fundamentals

Before we get too far ahead of ourselves, however, it might be

good to take a quick time-out and go over some of the

fundamentals that underlie online advertising deal structures.

There is a difference in which party publisher or advertiser

bears more of the risk when deals are based on CPA (cost per

action) versus CPM (cost per thousand). At the end of the day,

putting an advertiser with a great product or service together with

a publisher whos got highly targeted and receptive readers is a

win-win for both parties. But there are different approaches to

financially aligning and balancing publisher risk with advertiserreward and vice versa.

With CPM models, cost is typically based on how tight the

demographic is, the behavior of that demographic, and the

available inventory. Unless were talking about a fairly largecampaign or a campaign with a particularly motivated publisher,

its typically the responsibility of the advertiser to provide

appropriate creative (direct response, branding, or a blend). In aCPM deal, fees are paid regardless of the performance of thecampaign; therefore the risk is primarily on the advertiser.

Typically, this results in the lowest long-term effective cost for the

advertiser. But thats something that can only be determined if

the advertiser has solid metrics with conversion data.

Often, if a publisher isnt getting the conversions expected at a

CPA level, they may fall back on a CPM or a CPC (cost per click)arrangement with the advertiser. They may be doing this for cash

flow reasons, due to an unexpectedly long sales cycle with your

product or service. But if youre an advertiser whos allocated a

fairly reasonable budget for threshold marketing cost, be wary of

doing a CPM or CPC deal instead of CPA. You may be advertising

in the wrong venue or using the wrong medium or the publishermay not be providing proper placement, or maybe your

product/service just isnt critical to the audience at this point.


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Further, its wise to thoroughly evaluate any agreements that

include touch point controls to ensure that delivery is consistentwith your intended brand experience. Remember, these customer

experience touch points are associated with you.

Regardless of the level of risk and time required to set it up, a CPA

is a partnership that can yield great results for both parties,

especially if you dont have a strong ecosystem or content strategy

of your own (and thus cant generate the kind of traffic you needorganically.)

If you have an opportunity to do a CPA deal, dont just jump at itthinking, Hey, we are only paying for results. Even if you have

already done your homework and know your threshold cost per

acquisition, you could still get stuck with a long term contract that

forces you to pay $100 per customer, for example, when you havebeen getting them for $20 using a CPM approach across all of

your networks. Equally costly, CPA does typically carry a higher

opportunity cost, so you expend more internal resources,

technology costs, and mind space to get a deal implemented.

Upfront risk is calculated into a CPA and CPC. It may not be thebest option if you have stellar metrics. Once you have a solid set of

performance metrics from multiple publishers, ad types and

creative you should consider whether moving away from CPA or

CPC toward a CPM approach that will get you the best ROI simplybecause when you take on the risk, you get the benefit.


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brand dynamic is always there unless your business is completely

commoditized.

By commoditization, I mean that theres absolutely no qualitativedifference between you and any of your competitors. Its all about

who can offer the lowest price. A higher quality product or a more

convenient location or superior customer service none of those

things make a difference because your customers are completely

driven by price.

If you are purely a commodity player, then you had better be

selling something relatively scarce. Otherwise, youre going tohave to find some point of differentiation and fast. That

differentiation is what allows you to market your products or

services, and what distinguishes you from the competition. It goes

right to the core of your value proposition.

Cultivating a rich, sweet Honey Pot requires three things: brand

alignment, authenticity and a compelling core value. But in order

to pursue a strategy that leverages authentic brand value, first youneed to build authentic brand value. And that means you have to

be able to do three basic things:

identify your core value develop a brand experience that embodies your core foster a culture that aligns with your core

These are the necessary prerequisites. Without them, a Honey Pot

even if its well executed just wont work for you.

Identifying Your Core Value

Not everyone can easily articulate his or her companys value

proposition. But if youve stayed in business for any length of

time, its a good bet you have one. Theres probably something

youre doing right whether by accident, by instinct or by plan.


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The trick is recognizing what your core value is so that you can

put together a strategy that really leverages your value. There issimply no way to succeed with a Honey Pot strategy if you truly

cant discern your core value.

So what is it that you do particularly well? What is it that you offer

that no one else does? What unique problem have you solved that

no one else even recognized? What is your story?

Communicating Your Brand Identity

Face it, mood boards are some of the best props to come out ofdesign studios. But your brand is more than a mood board or a

list of attributes. Its more than your logo or tagline, and it is

definitely more than all the agency conversations youve had

about how to communicate your brand.

Brand is something intangible, but nonetheless powerful. It is, in

a sense, the real essence of your product or service a set of

associations based on the publics interactions with your product.

For years the common wisdom held that brand identity was an

image you could carefully craft. It was the impression you wanted

customers to have of what your products or services stood for. Sobrand managers tried to create this idealized identity and then

advertising whizzes tried to persuade customers they wanted or

needed exactly what was promised by the brand. But its

increasingly hard to pull that off.

The days of simply running a catchy campaign for a completelymediocre New and Improved product and then watching its

subsequent meteoric rise are long gone. The reality is that you

have much less control of your brand identity than you might like

to think. Customers now have the ability to talk back moreeasily and more publicly than ever. They wont just talk to you.

Theyll also talk to each other.


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This means the reality behind that carefully crafted brand identity

will be readily apparent. So those who fill a real need, make atotally great product or offer a truly unique service, can grow their

business sometimes very quickly based on word of mouthalone.

Aligning Culture and Core

The notion of seeking cultural alignment with your brand is justas important as recognizing your core and building a strong brand

identity around it. Aside from being something that can drive

innovation, cultural alignment is one of the things that will helpkeep your messaging authentic. As an entity your company needs

to live the brand. The members of your organization need tounderstand your core value and be able to express it.

Dont worry if you think theyre not a particularly expressive

bunch. You can always have a third party help smooth the rough

edges, but you definitely need to make sure everyone in the

organization knows what differentiates you from yourcompetitors. Thats not only your core marketing message; its a

compass for day-to-day business decisions.

Distilling the Value

If you dont have a compelling or differentiated core value,

nothing much in this book really matters. No matter how smart

your tactics are and how well executed they may be, without that

core value a Honey Pot strategy just wont work for you.

A Honey Pot strategy can be a wild success when you have a clear

and compelling core value, but its tough to build an online

ecosystem around nothing other than an empty positioningstatement. The amazing thing is lots of clients come to us with

that compelling core but dont even know they have it. We love

those opportunities when we can help unlock hidden potential.


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My agency, like many others, has one hard and fast rule about

clients: we wont work with companies that lack a solid core valuebecause we believe an online ecosystem can thrive only if it is

built around that core.

Its important to find your core. If youre really lucky, its the story

thats told in the marketing collateral. When its not, the best

thing to do is to strip away all the marketing jargon and see whats

left. What was the spark that started the company? What was thefounders intention? Sometimes when you get back to that, all of

the elements you need to communicate the companys core value

readily bubble to the surface.

Maybe the company founder was a scientist who needed precision

lab equipment to ensure the fewest possible variables in

experiments, so he started making his own because he couldntfind anything on the market that was good enough. Theres the

story behind a major equipment supplier.

Maybe the founder was a baseball player frustrated that hecouldnt bend his pinky when wearing his mitt. He just wanted a

mitt that was a little more supple so he could feel the ball a bitmore. Theres the story behind a sporting goods manufacturer.

Sometimes the core value is at the heart of what drove everything

before there was any profit. Its okay if the founders were looking

for some financial reward, but what was their real motivation?

Were they trying to solve a major problem faced by a loved one?

Were they fascinated by an idea for an invention? The truer thestory, the more it will help you communicate the core. If

somebody was just searching for a dollar, they could have gotten

that dollar any number of ways. So why did they choose this way?

You want to look for the heart so youll be able to decide when

values being added in the right places. Everything you do to build

the online ecosystem should be an enhancement of that core value


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and not just an effort to get more traffic or higher conversion

rates. Those things may result, but they shouldnt be the primaryfocus.

Agencies typically go through some kind of discovery process

with new clients. We try to elicit the business goals. We review

what the positioning statement is and what the messaging has

been to date. We break down the business units into teams, then

we interview, research and summarize. The problem is, the usualdiscovery process doesnt always yield results that are honest.

When an organization has been telling itself a particular story for

a long time, staffers may come to believe it even if its not quitetrue.

Often, you can figure out what the core value really is by finding

the passion in an organization. Thats why we sometimes paymore attention to the intangibles during discovery sessions. When

do the CEOs eyes light up? When do the chief marketing officers

hands start moving enthusiastically? Sometimes the best place to

look isnt even within the organization. What do the companyscustomers have to say about the core value of the company? Are

there feedback mechanisms? Can you intuit anything from

metrics that may have been gathered? Can you put some street

teams out there? Can you make the call to a friend who happens

to be a loyal user of the companys product? Why does she use it?What problem does the product solve for her? Thats another way

to find the heart.

But what happens if there really is no hidden heart? If you cantget down to a core value that you believe in or one that you at

least believe can succeed in the marketplace then you have some

serious work to do.

Figure out how to improve or enhance what youve got. Work with

your R&D folks. Find out whos most closely aligned from a

cultural perspective and work with them to enhance your core


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value. Take responsibility for making that product better, making

that service better and making the real heart come through.

Living ItIn the best companies, the organizational culture aligns with the

core value of the brand. If youve got that heart, then let it show.

Thats authentic value.

Every company has its own back-story and a unique culture. That

uniqueness must be embraced to connect with consumers in the

new media landscape. Its an essential part of establishing your

credibility.

A typical tactic in the past was to go after the mass market with a

brand identity calculated to appeal to the broadest group.Although there are still some opportunities to do that, the middle

is really shrinking. The plays are on the fringes. And to reach

those fringes, you need to speak the right language. If you

understand their needs, niche markets will come to you and can

spread like wildfire.

When your people are aligned with your core value, you havecredibility with your constituency. And, as an organizational

culture, you have passion, energy and clarity of purpose. That

passion and connection to the community are critical.

Say your business is building better bikes. Do you hire biking

enthusiasts or just people who are trying to earn a good living? Doyou attract outdoor enthusiasts? People who are intensely health-conscious? You really should think about this because the mix will

start to affect your product and your customer base at some

point.

If your culture is aligned with your core value then let the

individuals in the organization do their thing naturally. The

people on your team must not only believe in your vision but live


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it themselves so theyll understand how they would want to

interact with your brand. Your team will be speaking the samelanguage as your customers and youll be able to build a more

credible ecosystem. Youll make a natural connection with youraudience. Thats something you just cant fake.

The Power of Core Value

For a number of years the web was ripe with marketing

inefficiencies (read, opportunities.) Some companies were built

on arbitrage plays as affiliates or as product companies filling a

void in niche markets. These companies relied on pockets of low

acquisition costs, maybe a super cheap remnant CPM or

uncontested pay-per-click terms. Although some of theseopportunities still exist, the best categories are taken, and a shift

away from media spend on mass advertising is squeezing out any

differential in converting inventory.

Recently, I helped a client negotiate what I thought would be a

challenging CPA deal because of the price expectation imbalance

illustrated in a volley of emails between our client and a publisher,leading up to the talks. I prepared every data point possible based

on about a half a dozen scenarios, including various combinations

of percentage share of voice, data sharing, ad formats, email

frequency, transaction process and touch-point control. I noticed

the principal representing the publisher becoming a bit agitatedjust as my client started talking about how they had cornered the

market.

This was odd. A bit of frothing (whether real or feigned) might be

typical when the deal numbers are being discussed. But we hadntdiscussed any numbers yet, and the principal of the publisher was

a seasoned deal-maker. Such visible reactions were out of

character.

My client finished a clear articulation of his unique service and

was about to broach the numbers in an attempt to set a realistic


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Chapter 4

How to Sweeten the Pot

How you grow your ecosystem and turn it into a rich, sweet

Honey Pot depends on what the core value of your brand is.

Even though you may engage consultants to actually buildelements of your ecosystem for you, remember that you know your

business, your customers and your core value. Dont be pushed to

do anything that doesnt align with your core brand identity.

Theres no

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The Honey Pot